Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has often praised the spirit of English football, but he is not overly fond of the accommodation offered to visiting sides around the country.

Picture yourself managing a Sunday League Team. There's not enough room in the dressing room for you, players or staff to all sit around and go through the upcoming game. Now picture yourself as manager of Manchester United. The same situation, it appears, applies within their dressing room.

"Let's start with the negative thing. The accommodation for the players to dress themselves, to change into their club shirts, are in most stadiums not so good.

"And also the place for the manager, a lot of times I am sitting on the toilet! But not on the toilet to make something, but because there is no other place. That was, for me, surprising.

"But the way football is lived here in the minds of the people is unbelievable, and it is what I expected.

"I think it's fantastic to be here in England. They live football, football is living, and living is football. That is not [the case] in Germany, in Spain a little bit more but here it's unbelievable. It's fantastic to see."

This sort of issue is expected when on trips to MK Dons or Yeovil Town but not at Premier League level. Then again, you've got to consider club funding - and even at the top level, clubs can struggle.

It is also an interesting conclusion for a foreign manager to come in and make. If it wasn't for van Gaal's reckless honesty, none of us would be the wiser about this toiletry issue at Premier League grounds.

Manchester United reached their objective for the season, finishing fourth and securing a spot in the Champions League qualifiers. Clubs across Europe will now be warned prior to United's arrival against having limited space or inadequate dressing rooms.

Dale O’Donnell

Dale O’Donnell is a freelance journalist and founder of Manchester United blog Stretty News. He has previously conducted interviews with former footballers such as Gary Neville, Jason McAteer and Mikaël Silvestre. Dale’s work has been published on outlets such as the Guardian, Daily Mail, Telegraph, Sky Sports and more.